“I think we have to strike the zoning variance,” City Clerk-Treasurer Cynthianna Bergman said of item number nine on the regular meeting agenda for this past Monday June 15th, after those at the Stanley Fire Hall had waited unsuccessfully for a missing council member to show and get the variance details moving at an earlier 5:30 p.m. meeting. Before the zoning variance was struck from the regular meeting agenda however, the Council, acting as a Committee of the Whole, heard the results of the City finance audit conducted through Baker-Tilly, the firm represented in person at the Council meeting that night by Kimberly M. Shult, CPA and Partner. To hear Shult tell it, the change to on-site audit reviews was refreshing.

“I’m happy to be out. It’s been a long time,” Shult said as she went in the highlights of City of Stanley finances. First to consider was the general fund of Stanley. With just over $2.5 million in Actual Revenues and $2.349 million in Expenditures and other finance uses, that meant the City had an actual net change in its fund balance of $166,259 or else $280,000 in the Final Budget, with a low unrestricted fund balance, something which Shult cautioned the Council members about. With various aspects of the City funds tied up in sewer and water and unspendable as a result, a low unrestricted fund balance was something to watch out for—but then it was into debt!

As of the end of the 2019 budget cycle, the City of Stanley was using 53 percent of its general debt limit allowed by the State, with $1.3 million in general obligation debt alone, this jumping sharply in 2016 to $4.25 million (79%) of the state limit, up from $2.20 million (43%) the year before, decreased from the peak to approximately $3.16 million rounded up, at (53%) of the state limit. A sizable portion of the City’s debt is secured by revenues from water and sewer kickbacks. Meanwhile and for the rankings, the City of Stanley came in as 289th out of 601 municipalities compared on the grounds of a population less than 10,000, being 5th out of 8th per capita or “head” in Chippewa County, but using the biggest percentage of the allowable debt limit for municipalities within Chippewa County as measured by Madison standards.

With a recommendation by Bond Ratings Agencies of a flat 20 percent for debt service of non-capital expenditures, the City saw a spike in 2017 to 33.6%. Meanwhile, tracking over a period between 2015 and 2019, the water and sewer expenditures fluctuated slightly but stayed consistently below overall revenues, meaning that City residents can continue to expect safe tap water at the faucet as well as safe sewage disposal. For the equity to debt ratio put into terms of capital investment, the City books registered a 45-55 split in its sewer utility’s revenue bonds, with the coverage requirements of 1.10 to 1.25 times tied to annual debt service being met for 2019.